Ponkunnam is a town in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, part of

Kottayam district Kottayam () is one of List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Kerala, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettu ...

under

Kanjirappally Kanjirappally is a taluk and a town in Kottayam district situated about away from the district capital, in the state of Kerala, in southwestern India. Etymology Climate Kanjirappally has the highest number of rainy days in Kerala. It receiv ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

. Nearby towns are Kanjirappalli, Pampady, Manimala and Pala. Ponkunnam literally means ''golden mountain'' (''ponn'' = gold, ''kunn'' = mountain). Ponkunnam is one of the busiest towns along the NH 220 comprising key administrative institutions of

such as the Kanjirapally Munsif Court, DySP office, and

Regional Transport Office The Regional Transport Office or District Transport Office or Regional Transport Authority ( RTO/DTO/RTA) is an office administered by the State Governments constituted under Section 213 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 of India and is resp ...

. It is a part of Kanjirappally State Legislative constituency and Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency. The town is also home to many educational institutions and healthcare facilities. Part of the Syrian Christian belt, there are many Syrian Christian agrarian families that reside here.

Geography

This part of Kerala is famous for its fertile land and rubber plantations. It is at an altitude of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

. The town is at the junction of two major roads in Kerala: NH 183 and Main Eastern Highway. The climate is moderate with timely cold breezes and the town is the gateway to the Western Ghats.

Religious places

* Chirakkadavu Mahadeva Temple, is on the way to Manimala, nearly 3 km from Ponkunnam Town. * Manakkattu Bhadra Temple, is on Ponkunnam - Mannamplavu Road, nearly 4 km from Ponkunnam Town. * Holy Family Syro Malabar Church - near KSRTC bus station. Ponkunnam Holy Family Syro-Malabar Roman Catholic Church

Ponkunnam Holy Family Syro-Malabar Roman Catholic Church

* Ponkunnam Puthiyakavu Temple is near the Ponkunnam private bus stand. * St.Marys Orthodox Church is on the Ponkunnam– Thampalakad road. St-marys-syriac-orthodox-church

* Mosque is near Ponkunnam bus stand & in Manimala road. * Latin Catholic Church 2 km from the town (westward) by the side of NH 183. * CMS church half km from the town at Attickal in PP Road. * Elamgulam Sreedharma Shasta temple and Elagmulam church are 5 km away from the town. * Panamttom Devi temple (Where the traditional travancore folklore padyani is held every year as a part of temple fest) is 4.5 km from Ponkunnam.

Events and customs

The town is famous for its volleyball traditions and customs. Almost every year there is an ever-rolling volleyball tournament happening in Ponkunnam Mahatma Gandhi Mini Stadium.

Notable persons

Babu Antony Babu Antony (born 22 February) is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing anta ...

, prominent South Indian film actor *

Bipin Chandran Bipin Chandran stands as a distinguished figure in the realm of Indian literature and cinema, hailing from the picturesque state of Kerala. An accomplished writer, screenwriter, and actor, he has made significant contributions to Malayalam cinem ...

, noted film script-writer from Kerala. * M. D. Rajendran, Film director * Ponkunnam Damodaran, Poet from Kerala * Ponkunnam Varkey, notable writer * Thampi Antony, an actor and novelist from Kerala

Transport

Road

Ponkunnam lies on the National Highway 183 (Old NH 220) connecting the City of

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

and Theni. The NH183 connects

to the state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the busiest roads passing through Ponkunnam. The Main Eastern Highway (

Punalur Punalur is a municipality in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of the Punalur Taluk and Punalur Revenue Division. It is in the eastern part of the Kollam district of Kerala, on the banks of the Kallada River and footh ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...

- Ponkunnam- Pala-

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipalityhttps://lsgkerala.gov.in/system/files/2017-10/localbodies.pdf in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located east of the district headquarters in Thrikkakara and a ...

) also passes through Ponkunnam. Main Eastern Highway is categorized as State Highway - 08 ( SH-08 ) of Kerala. It is the second-longest State Highway of Kerala covering a distance of . The districts it passes through are Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam. These highways connect Ponkunnam to

MC Road (SH-01). The Ponkunnam- Pala-

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha () is a municipality and taluk in the Idukki district of Kerala, India. It is located west of the district headquarters in Painavu and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Thodupu ...

stretch of Main Eastern Highway was upgraded in 2016 to a width of . The two-lane highway, which connects Ponkunnam To

over within 80 minutes. This makes it easy to access for the people of Highranges, tourists to

Thekkady Thekkady () in Idukki district is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala States and territories of India, state of India. The name Thekkady is derived from the word "thekku" which means teak and "adi ...

and pilgrims of

Sabarimala The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple () is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ayyappan, who is also known as Dharma Shasta and is the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini (female avatar of the god Vishnu). The temple is situated atop th ...

to reach

Angamaly Angamaly () is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. Angamaly is part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is located northeast of the Kochi city centre. As of the 2011 Indian census, the municipality has a population of 33 ...

and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

. The Highway becomes congested during the months of November and December due to

pilgrims. There is one KSRTC Bus stand and one private bus stand. Daily, there are many buses to

Changanassery Changanassery, () formerly Changanacherry, is a municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and also to the nearest towns:

Erumely Erumely, also spelled Erumeli, is a town and panchayat located in the south-eastern part of Kottayam district in Kerala, India. Erumely is situated east of Kottayam town and north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The village is on the b ...

etc. KSRTC operates a chain service to Pala. KSRTC also operates a chain service from

Kumily Kumily, also spelt as Kumaly () is a revenue village and Gram Panchayat in the Idukki district of the state of Kerala. It is a town in Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and Periyar Tiger Reserve and a well frequented tourist destination. Kumily is a ...

via Ponkunnam.

Railway

The nearest railway stations are

(33 km) and

(38 km).

Air

The nearest airport is

Cochin International Airport Cochin International Airport , popularly known as Kochi International Airport or Nedumbassery Airport, is an international airport serving the city of Kochi, Kerala, in southwestern India. It is located at Nedumbassery, about northeast of th ...

, Kochi (94 km).

References

External links

www.ponkunnamtown.in
{{Central Travancore Cities and towns in Kottayam district